A Whole New World
by Gemkat5
Summary: Moving along with the times, Sarah finally gets her very own new computer! Burning to satisfy a curiosity, the Labyrinth King is the first thing she types into the search box. But, the results are far from what she expected. J/S of course.


**Disclaimer: The only thing I claim to own is the insane idea that formed this story. Everything else is borrowed from their respective owners, copyrights and trademarks. **

A/N: all OC names were made up by me – if there are any similarities to actual people with the same user names, it is purely coincidental.

**A Whole New World**

It was December 24, 2001 and Sarah Williams was as excited as a kid with a new toy. Actually, she was a kid with a new toy, she was finally able to buy herself a brand new computer! One that she didn't have to share with her half brother, or a room-mate, nor anyone at the library. It was hers, and hers alone!

Pulling herself out from under her desk, she blew her mid-length hair from her face and turned the shiny PC on for the first time. She waited with bated breath as it booted up, hoping that she had connected everything correctly.

She'd learned about computers as they infiltrated themselves into the world of technology, her job had even sent her for computer training so she could learn more than just data entry.

Adeptly, she clicked 'yes' for this, 'disable' for that, and registered everything with the numbers that were included in the packaging. She was so excited she just thought she would burst as she downloaded certain programs, installed her internet provider information, setup her desktop, and made personal settings.

Finally, everything was programmed, preset, and simply perfect! She sat back in her chair and opened her browser. She was now free to search for 'anything' she wanted, without worrying that someone would snoop into her folders, and think her nuts for the weird things that constantly filled her mind.

Licking her lips with anticipation she opened a search engine, typed the name Jareth, then stared jaw dropped at the single result that popped up on her screen.

"Search Goblin King"

Being completely amazed that the name Jareth would instantly be translated to the Goblin king, and only the Goblin King, she typed in the suggested words, then hit enter.

Her eyes widened like saucers at the thousands of results that popped up on her screen. Settling herself in her chair she scanned the first few pages of results, skimming over most of them with disinterest. Unlike the name Jareth, it seemed as though the term 'Goblin King' wasn't as obscure as Sarah had thought. There were fantasy game references, folklore, books, movies, fan fiction, even personal journals that people had posted on websites.

Curious, she clicked on the link for a journal entry and was even more surprised as she read about a girl who had had a 'dream' when she was fourteen.

'Connie', who was an only child in her late thirties, had dreamed of having a baby sister, and had called the Goblin King to come and take her away because, at fourteen, there was no way she was going to share anything with some spoiled little brat because her mom couldn't keep her legs closed.

The journal told in detail about Connie's adventurous dream, ending with a wish that the Goblin King was real, and if he was, she wished he would come back so she could show him a thing or two!

Sarah hit the back button with a scowl and clicked on another personal journal. Skimming over most of the gibberish, she moved onto another journal, then another.

She couldn't believe all the people who had had the same 'dream'. How they were willing to openly talk about it, laugh about it, and joke about how things would've ended differently if they had known then what they know now, many years later.

"You've been a very busy king, haven't you?" Sarah mused aloud, thinking of the Goblin King.

Only, Sarah knew it hadn't been a dream, she even had a little scar to prove it. Two tiny teeth marks in her finger that still twanged every once in a while with a weird tingling feeling.

She was fascinated by the stories from others, some people even sketched pictures of the Goblin King, the labyrinth, the goblins, and other various creatures that Sarah remembered fondly or hadn't even encountered during her visit.

She liked one picture art in particular of Jareth, and right clicked to save it as a desktop background.

She laughed outright at the websites that were dedicated to the Goblin King personally and nearly shed tears of amusement when she found 'The Official Goblin King' website!

Thoroughly enjoying herself, she started reading the blogs on that sight, feeling more and more at ease about harboring such a secret for all these years. Until things started to hit home a little too personally.

Apparently, people had started writing their names on the stones in the labyrinth, encouraged by lipstick markings that someone had found and wrote their name next to it. Others followed this example as proof that they had been there.

"My markings," Sarah murmured, feeling a lot less amused all of a sudden.

Then she read a blog that squelched any humor she had left. It was written by an anonymous teenager who apparently just had the 'dream' only a month before. The teen described things in vivid detail, just as everyone else had done, but the last comment was what sent a cold chill up Sarah's spine.

'It was the scariest dream I ever had in my life. So real I swear I can still smell the bog of eternal stench! OMG! I almost forgot! Sarah Williams is supposed to call the king. He wants to talk to you. Good luck girlfriend! I don't want him to remember my name, that's for sure!'

"Oh my god," she whispered with dread. She pushed away from her desk and paced her room in a panic. "This can't be happening," she mused aloud, touching her hand to her forehead to think. "It's impossible," she reasoned. "There's no way he would send a message through a wisher!"

"It's been fifteen years, for crying out loud!" she announced to an empty room, splaying her hands dramatically before rushing back to the desk.

She sat down again and started clicking on blog after blog, reading every message on the board to look for anything that would relate to her personally. Then she found a thread that made her fingers grow numb.

The thread subject was titled, 'Who is Sarah Williams anyway?', and there were seventy-eight replies to it. With a trembling lip, Sarah started to read each one. Half of the replies were people saying they had no idea, that she wasn't in their dream at all. But others told of how creatures had mentioned Sarah, and some of the posts mentioned how the Goblin King himself had asked if he/she knew a girl named Sarah Williams.

She looked at the date of the last post. December 19, 2001. Skipping back to the beginning she looked at the date that the thread had been started. September 7, 1996.

"He's been looking for me for years," she whispered to herself, not exactly sure what that feeling in her gut was. Anxiety, to be sure, but was that fear? Or anticipation?

The thought of meeting him again was both fearful and exciting. But, why was he looking for her, and using wishers to send her a message? With her curiosity peeked, she clicked the button to add her own comment to the thread, just to see if she'd get a response from it.

'I remember my dream.' She typed in the little box. 'I think the Goblin King is over rated if he has to use dreamers to find one slip of a girl! LMAO! I mean if he wants her that bad why doesn't he just haunt her dreams like he does everybody else?'

Satisfied with her challenging words, she clicked the post button, then bookmarked the thread to check back on it later. She had registered with a user name she thought would let her 'fit in'; my_wills_ar_ah_strong, and ignored the anonymous option. She wanted to chum the waters and see what floated to the surface.

Satisfied for now, she opened her instant messenger and let the disturbing thoughts of a Goblin King slip from her mind as she chatted with online friends for a while.

XxXxX

Three hours later, Sarah was closing all the open windows on her task bar to log off when she realized that she hadn't checked back on that message board.

Refreshing the page, she was astonished at not only the volume of responses she got from it, but the flaming that was aimed at her for 'insulting' the forever gorgeous and all powerful Goblin King!

"He scares the shit out of them, and yet they're loyal as all hell," she mused quietly. "Amazing, absolutely amazing."

Closing the page, Sarah logged offline, and went to go get something to eat. After munching on a sandwich, she straighten up around her apartment, gathered her wash, and put it by the door to take to the laundry room. Grabbing a book from her table, she slung her laundry bag over her shoulder like Santa, made sure she had her keys, and went to do her wash.

Returning a few hours later, after chatting with Mary Zimmer on the fourth floor, she put all her clothes and towels away, and sat back down at her computer. After logging online, she went to the Goblin King website to see if anyone had anything nice, or even interesting to say as a response.

There was an invite for her to join a live chat at eight o'clock, the link conveniently provided for her. Checking the time she saw that it was already eight-fifteen. Shrugging, she clicked the link and was accepted into the chat right away.

There were four people in the room, and she found their chat names very interesting: iamking723, mizzmatchtizz, nokingatmydur, and donotdefyme.

"You sure know how to get attention, my_wills_ar_ah_strong." mizzmatchtizz typed after the hellos and welcomes were stated.

"U need to post your dream my_wills_ar_ah_strong." nokingatmydur typed.

"I don't think she had a dream." donotdefyme typed. "If she did then she wouldn't be so cocky to question how powerful GK is."

"I had the dream a long time ago." Sarah typed back, smirking to herself. "I never thought others would have it too."

"Where you been hiding? Under a rock?" nokingatmydur typed. "This website was made when the internet was born!"

"I just got my own PC. Never thought to look up GK before." Sarah replied.

"Like I said, you didn't have the dream. IF you did, you wouldn't ever forget it, or GK." donotdefyme typed.

"Just because I don't worship him like you obviously do, doesn't mean I didn't meet him." Sarah remarked, realizing that she should have phrased that differently, but it was too late, she had already hit the enter button.

"Maybe her dream wasn't as vivid as ours." mizzmatchtizz typed, trying to lighten the mood in the room.

"Maybe she's just upset because he didn't ride off into the sunset with her." Donotdefyme typed. "GK isn't a dream for just anyone and we all know it. Something miss my_wills_ar_ah_strong doesn't seem to understand."

"Well things aren't always as they seem, now are they?" Sarah typed back, not liking these people at all. She found herself being more defensive with these people than she had been prepared for, and was about to just tell them all to wake up and smell reality when she got a PM message from iamking723. Who had remained silent in the main chat room.

"U R Sarah, aren't you? The one GK's been looking for."

Sarah stared at the message for a long time, the others still chatting without her in the main chat room. donotdefyme accused her of all sorts of things while the others tried to be pleasant.

The bite mark on her finger got that weird tingling feeling as she read the message over and over, wondering if it could be the goblin king himself. Suddenly she laughed at herself. '_Jareth, with a computer! Yea right! His castle doesn't even have electric!_'

"Any of you ever think that maybe it WASN'T a dream?" She typed in the main chat room, completely fed up with this shit. "His name is HOGGLE!" she added as a response to their bickering over the plastic craving dwarf's name, then typed, "So what if I am, iamking723? There's obviously a reason he can't find me!"

Those still in the chat room stared at the message: my_wills_ar_ah_strong has left the room.

"OMG! Do you think that was really her?" donotdefyme typed, wondering if she should've been a little nicer. Iamking723 had obviously sent the newbie a PM, and he very rarely did that for anyone. He was the host of the site, after all.

"Yea, and we led her right to him, provoking her like that," Mizzmatchtizz replied.

"That's what we've been doing for years," nokingatmydur added. "It was part of the bargain for all of us."

"I know," donotdefyme typed. "but now that we found her, I feel like shit. I could've been nicer."

"Yea!" "Ya think?!" the other two sent at the same time.

Sarah wasn't sure who she was more irritated with, herself or them. She had set herself up for the abuse after all. She just hadn't expected them to be so vindictive over someone they thought was a dream.

"That was a bad idea," she told herself, and went to her account settings to delete her profile and terminate her account. She was about to click the 'yes, I want to delete my account' button when she got another PM message alert.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to know which of them sent it to her. Her finger rested on the mouse button, the cursor hovering over the 'delete account' button, with her scar tingling like never before. Shifting the cursor, she clicked on the cancel button instead, then opened the PM message.

It read. "Piece of cake? Or peaches, perhaps?"

"Oh my god," she breathed, and stared at the message with astounded shock. "It is you."

Another PM alert chimed as she stared at the previous one. Blinkingly, she opened the next one.

"Summon me, Sarah."

"This is ludicrous," she chuckled nervously to herself. "Like I'd wish for the goblin king to be here in my apartment," she mused aloud as she hit the reply button to say just that.

Another PM alert chimed.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me?" she exclaimed aloud, opening the new message.

"Close enough. Say, right now."

Back in the main chat room a message from iamking723 was read by the members of the chat. "Your promises are fulfilled. Do you wish to remember all that transpired, or not?"

"You promised to tell us what she did to you that you hunted her like that." Donotdefyme replied.

"Fair enough." Showed up in the text box after a brief pause. "She turned my subjects against me, destroyed the city, and turned my world up-side down. AND I NEVER LOSE!"

"We've condemned her, didn't we?" Mizzmatchtizz asked.

"Absolutely." Was the reply. "You three have condemned her to live forever by my side as my queen, and have every wish and desire fulfilled. Now answer my question, she is about to summon me."

"I want to remember." Was the quick reply from all three.

Sarah's heart pounded in her chest, a weight seemed to press down around her. '_It really is him,_' she thought, trying to wrap her brain around the idea of the Goblin King PMing her online! '_Well, only one way to find out if this is real or not._'

"Right now," she whispered, almost too low for human ears.

"You are, by far, the most elusive human being in this forsaken realm, Sarah Williams!"

Her breath left her at his exasperated tone. She stared unseeingly in front of her, his presence tangible behind her. She started laughing in short abrupt bursts as she slowly turned in her chair.

"I don't believe this," she laughed nervously, taking in the sight of him. He looked magnificent. He wore snug black jeans, a white t-shirt, and his leather jacket. His chopped long/short blonde hair was tamed, falling over his ears and shoulders in a stylish way. His brows still arched theatrically, along with the tint of color over his lids that looked like makeup.

"If you didn't believe, I wouldn't be here at all," he informed her indignantly.

"You were in a chat room, Jareth!" she replied with a nervous chuckle.

"What choice did I have, when all other means of finding you failed?" he directed facetiously.

She closed her eyes, shook her head, and simply breathed. '_This isn't happening._'

"Surely you felt '_something'_ of my attempts to find you?" he asked in a softer, pleading, tone. "A twinge, a shiver perhaps, anything?" he implored.

Her gaze instantly went to her finger, rubbing the tingling small scar with her thumb. "I had no idea…" she whispered, looking up at him. "It never occurred to me that you wouldn't be able to find me if you wanted to."

"What are you doing?" he asked warily, staring pointedly at her hand.

She glanced at her hand, then raised it for him to see. "It's just a scar from a fairy bite. I get a weird tingling feeling in it sometimes. I never once thought it was connected to you, but it's been bothering me since you sent that private message."

"Nasty little creatures, aren't they?" he remarked with a repulsed expression, crossing his arms over his chest. "Can't get rid of them, no matter how I try."

She chuckled at his humor and turned her head shyly. "Yea, I guess so." She regarded him peripherally while he regarded her in full view. "What do you want, Jareth?" she asked quietly.

"I want you," he answered bluntly, sounding affronted that she needed to ask. "And you're not going to give me lame excuses," he stated firmly, pointing at her as he stepped forward. "Perhaps ten years ago I would have tolerated an argument on the point, but not after searching this realm from top to bottom."

"I've had to learn how to drive, on both sides of the road," he elaborated with a wave of his hands. "How to use a phone, how to speak correctly in every state and every country." He dramatically dropped to his knee next to her chair, gazing up at her. "I've learned more about this realm then I ever cared to learn," he told her in a deep tone of voice. "All in search of you."

"Why couldn't you find me?" she asked with a frown of confusion. "I wasn't exactly hiding, you know." She rose from the chair to pace the room. His nearness had an unexpected effect on her, and she wasn't ready to acknowledge that just yet. "I went out often enough. I have a job, I'm listed in the phone book for crying out loud! You learned to use the internet and not a phone book?"

"Do you have any idea how many Sarah Williams there are in any given phone directory?" he asked smoothly, rising to his full height, following her with his gaze as she paced. "There are fifty-three in Massachusetts, one hundred and eighty-nine in California, one hundred and thirty-two in Virginia, and one hundred and twenty in New York City."

"You really were looking for me, weren't you?" she asked, amazed at his diligence.

"And that's not including the other states, nations, and countries in this realm." He stated with finality, crossing his arms again. "I'm nearly exhausted just looking for you."

"So, how'd you end up online?" she asked, mimicking his stance.

"Pah," he snorted, turning to her desk to sit down, moving the mouse to stop her screensaver. "I had a flippant wisher tell me to use 'Google' when I inquired on your behalf."

She stepped up behind him feeling a little anxious as he started closing windows and adeptly clicked on things on her computer. '_Please don't let him see the desktop_,' she pleaded silently to whatever power that heard those musings.

"Naturally I insisted she show me what she was talking about." He closed the last window on the screen and paused.

Apparently the gods weren't listening. Sarah saw the pleased smile that lit his face as he stared at the pencil sketch of himself that she had saved to her desktop.

"Well, I can see that there won't be much kicking and screaming at least." He clicked on the 'shut down' button.

"Jareth," Sarah sighed. "I'm not going back with you."

"Of course you are," he stated definitively, rising from the chair to brush past her. "I already told you that I won't except any lame excuses," he reiterated, opening her closet he began rummaging through her clothes. "I've spent far too long trying to find you."

He paused, pulled out a dress with its hanger, looked at it, looked over at Sarah, tilted his head as though picturing her in it, then tossed it to the bed. "I'm not letting you out of my sights again," he finished, as though he hadn't paused at all.

Bending down to his knees, he started tossing her shoes around, pulling one out into the better lighting to examine it, then tossed it back into the closet again.

"Jareth, it's been fifteen years. I don't have those dreams anymore." She explained in a kind tone. "What the hell are you doing anyway?"

"I wouldn't expect you have the same dreams, luv," he replied distractedly, still sifting through her shoes. "And how many pairs of shoes does one woman need? You could shod half the goblin kingdom with what you have in here."

"I don't own '_that'_ many shoes!" she defended. "And why are you in my closet?" she asked again, resting her hands on her hips.

"Do you '_own'_ a pair of shoes to match that dress?" he asked with exasperation, half turning to look up and back at her.

"Yes, I own a pair of shoes that match that dress," she tossed back facetiously, shaking her head in an attempt to make sense of him. "They're in there somewhere." She waved a hand towards the closet with exasperation.

"I'm taking you to dinner," he told her, resuming his search. "Someone told me that it would be a good idea to wine and dine you before kidnapping you back to my kingdom." He sat back on his heels with a shoe in his hand. "Ah, I found one."

"You can wine and dine me all you want, I'm not going back with you," Sarah reiterated, folding her arms as he tossed the one shoe to the bed with her dress.

"Now if only I could find the other one…" he voiced with distraction, dipping back into the closet. "It most definitely belongs to Sarah Williams, the ever elusive one. Ahh," he sighed with satisfaction. "There it is."

Rising to his feet, he tossed the matching shoe to the bed next to the other one, then noticed the determined expression on Sarah's face.

"What?" he asked with innocence, leaning back slightly. "Do you honestly think I expect you to still dream of ribbons and glitter?" He chuckled with humor as he took her by the shoulders and began ushering her out into the hallway.

"What the hell are you doing?" she asked incredulously, turning on him so fast that he lost his grip on her.

He stood straight and looked at her as she fumed before him. "I'm taking you to dinner," he repeated simply. "You, however, need a shower first." He leaned slightly closer to her, making noisy sniffing sounds. "You smell like Pledge." He once again grabbed her firmly and ushered her towards the bathroom.

"Now don't take too long or I'll have to come in after you," he stated, letting her go once she was inside the tiled room. "Then we'd definitely miss our dinner reservations," he added suggestively with his hand on the doorknob. "And I'm sure that would piss you off, too." He swung the door closed only to reopen it.

"And don't forget that I can control the water flow." To prove his point the shower behind her turn on by itself. "Hurry up," he reiterated before closing the door firmly.

Sarah reached for the doorknob to give him a good piece of her mind, but the door wouldn't open. "Jareth, dammit, open this door!" she yelled, slamming her palms flat on the wood.

The shower stopped suddenly and the doorknob turned, but the door didn't open just yet.

"So, you '_want'_ me to come in there, do you?" His tone was nothing but suggestive.

Sarah slammed herself bodily against the door to prevent him from opening it. "No! I… I just… I need a towel!" She rolled her eyes with relief at thinking of something feasible.

"They're in the closet in the…" a towel suddenly appeared by the sink, along with a matching washcloth. "…hall." She turned her face towards the door. "Thank you."

"Hurry up, or I will dress you myself if I have to!"

She was shaking as she removed her clothes. '_What the hell am I supposed to do now?_' she thought as she stepped under the slightly steaming water. '_He was definitely _not_ taking no for an answer. And what happened to him having no power over me anyway?_'

She quickly washed herself, then shampooed her hair, and got out before he deemed her 'taking too long'. With the towel firmly wrapped around her, she opened the door without a problem, and peeked into the tiny hallway.

"The way is clear," his voice rang out from the living room. "Go to your room and get dressed."

"You know," she voiced, fed up with his shit. "I've about had it with you coming in here and ordering me around!" She stood in the hallway with her arms firmly crossed over the towel under her breasts, and then he was suddenly standing before her.

His eyes glimmered as he trailed his gaze down the length of her. "You are so right," he amended in a softer tone that belied the hungry expression in his eyes. "Go to your room and get dressed, please."

She felt flushed just by the way he was looking at her, and took a tentative step back, which put her back against the wall.

"Or perhaps not," he stated suggestively, reaching his hand out towards her with a sultry grin.

"I'll go get dressed," she said hurriedly, sliding sideways away from his hand before rushing to her room to slam the door shut behind her.

"Very well," he sighed, loud enough for her to hear. He grinned mischievously at her reaction to him. '_This, is going to be so much fun._' He thought to himself. "Do hurry up!" he called out to her, and smiled even broader when he heard her drop something with a loud clunk.

Twenty minutes later Sarah exited her bedroom wearing the dress and shoes Jareth had picked out for her, along with nylons and under things of course. After the way he had looked at her in the hallway, she thought better than to defy his wishes of her attire, though she had only worn this dress once and had hated it.

Hearing her heels click in the hallway, he turned from peering out the window to look her over. She was beautiful. The blue dress he had chosen fit her just as he imagined it would with it's overlapping neckline hanging suggestively low, teasing with just the right amount of cleavage. It tapered at her waist provocatively, showing her shapely hips and ass.

The color not only complimented her complexion, but made her eyes sparkle a deep green, or that could just be his effect on her, either way he liked it. Her hair hung loosely over her shoulders, appearing to still be damp in some areas, but she had applied a nice touch of makeup that subtly enhanced her beauty. The diamond accessories she had chosen herself complimented her very well.

"Absolutely stunning," he complimented sincerely, and walked over to her.

He raised his hands to splay his fingers in her hair, feeling how it was definitely still damp underneath. He raised her hair within his fingers, slightly tilting his head to first one side, then the other as though trying to decide something.

"I didn't have enough time to fully dry it." She explained a little curtly, reminding herself to breath. "You said to hurry up, and I did."

His nearness was once again making her feel flushed, especially since he had changed into black trousers with a matching dinner jacket, and a dark blue button down shirt that were definitely tailored. The shoes he wore in lieu of his boots looked Italian, but she wasn't sure.

"It bothers you to no end that I can make you obey me, doesn't it?" he asked, again sounding distracted, just like when he was looking for her shoes.

She chanced a glance up at him as he played with her hair on top of her head. "What are you doing?" Her tone laced with exasperation, fighting the urge to close her eyes and simply enjoy the feel of his fingers running through her hair.

A grin slowly appeared at his lips as his fingers raked through her shoulder length hair. "I'm showing off," he replied arrogantly, then let his arms drop to his sides, and looked down at her.

She stared up at him, so mesmerized that it took her a full minute to realize that her hair hadn't fallen when he let go of it. Curious, she lifted a hand to feel that he had not only dried it, but styled it on top of her head.

"I seriously hope it's at least flattering," she quipped, though her breathing was too uneven for it to have the bite she had intended.

"Do I look like I would have you appear unflattering?" he asked pointedly, and raised a brow expectantly, waiting for her to answer.

"No," she whispered. "I guess not."

"Then we're ready to leave," he announced and was about to take her arm in his hand when she moved away from him.

"Let me get my coat," she stated in a rush, briskly walking away from him. "I have a nice coat over here in the…"

He caught her by the arm and stopped her. "You won't need one," he assured her, turning her by her shoulders to face him again.

He saw the panic in her eyes as he slowly dipped his head to hers. Her lips parted in anticipation, her breathing uneven, her eyes slid closed. He touched her lips gently with his to prepare her for the second kiss. He expertly moved his mouth over hers, drawing her closer to his chest. He'd waited so long for this. Every day he dreamed of having her in his arms only to find the wrong Sarah Williams.

When he was alerted of a message posted on the website, he had read it with bated breath. Only 'his' Sarah Williams would dare make such a statement about him, and even then, it wasn't until he actually heard her wish that he had been certain. He was never going to let her go again.

Breaking their kiss, he held her for a moment for her to regain her senses. Licking her lips as she lowered her head she realized that they weren't in her apartment anymore. "Where are we?" she asked, looking around.

"Parris, France," he answered. "Or would you prefer Italy, China, Germany? Really, It's no consequence to me 'where' we dine."

"No, France is good," she replied quietly, staring up at him.

A maître d' came over to them and spoke directly to Jareth, gesturing with a bow and an outstretched hand for them follow him. Of course he spoke French, and Sarah's French was so rusty it was nearly non-existent. But she understood the mention of a private room.

Jareth answered the man in fluent French, however, and her heart leaped into her throat. She thought his English accent was arousing. It didn't have any merit compared to him speaking French.

"Sarah?" Jareth voiced, placing a hand gently at her elbow. She blinkingly looked from his lips to his eyes. "Are you alright?"

"Yea," she whispered, feeling flushed all the way down her neck. "Just don't speak French anymore."

"That's going to be a little difficult being that we're in France," he replied, smirking knowingly as he led her in the direction the maître d' had taken.

"I was only kidding," she laughed with a feigned smile, trying to regain some composure.

They were led to a small private dining room with one elegantly set table and candlelight for illumination. Jareth held her chair out for her, then gracefully seated himself across the small table. Sarah thought how he looked as regal as ever, even in these settings. Or maybe because of these settings. The candlelight danced in eyes magically, but she knew he didn't need that extra enhancement when they shone magically to begin with.

He ordered their meal for her, as a proper gentleman would, and a fine wine that Sarah was sure would make her tipsy within a few sips.

"So, this is your plan?" she asked after the waiter left the room. "You enchant me with Paris, and fine dining. Get me drunk on French wine, and I wake up in a whole new world?"

"You've been enchanted by me long before I brought you to Paris," he replied smoothly. "There's nothing wrong with fine dining." He reach over and took one of her hands in his. "And I seriously hope that French wine doesn't make you drunk."

"Wha… what about my waking up in a whole new world?" she asked unsteadily, watching as his thumb caressed her palm. The simple action was arousing her beyond anything she'd ever felt before, and she had no intention of pulling her hand away to make him stop.

"Everywhere we go, will be a whole new world," he whispered with promise. "For both of us."

"I don't feel much like eating, if you don't mind," she stated within uneven breaths.

"No?" he quipped suggestively. "What do you feel like?"

She forcibly pulled her gaze from his hand caressing hers to meet his dazzling eyes. "I was wondering the same thing of you."

The maître d' returned to the private room with a top choice bottle of wine, only to gaze around with confusion at finding the room vacant.


End file.
